After a slow start to the F1 season, Red Bull has a path forward according to Helmut Marko
The start of the 2025 Formula 1 season has not been what Red Bull was hoping for.
After two race weekends, the Bulls find themselves sitting third in the Constructors’ Championship standings, looking up at both Mercedes and McLaren. While McLaren has a pair of wins to begin their title defense, Red Bull has a second driver lineup, with the news that Liam Lawson has been demoted to Visa Cash App Racing Bulls, in a driver swap with Yuki Tsunoda ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.
Writing in his weekly Speedweek column Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko opened up about the switch, the team’s start to the season, as well as a much-discussed Red Bull meeting this week where the team reassured Verstappen about their plans for the RB21, their challenger for the 2025 campaign.
“On the first race weekend in Australia, Liam suffered a turbo failure in the third practice session, and he couldn’t complete a single lap. From that moment on, the pressure on him increased even more. And so mistakes crept in,” began Marko.
“This trend continued in China. We had to act before Liam completely lost his confidence. In this context, we must not forget that his career is not over; he is back driving for the Racing Bulls, a team with a car that is always capable of scoring points; a car that is also significantly easier to drive; and, ultimately, a team where he won’t be measured against Max Verstappen.”
Marko then dismissed criticism that the switch was unusual, noting that the team has done this before with other drivers who are still on the grid.
“All in all, Lawson’s confidence has steadily diminished; that was clearly visible. When he tried to push the pace, mistakes were made,” continued Marko.
“Lawson’s change of position is nothing unusual: we’ve done the same with Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon before, and both are still established drivers in Formula 1 with successful careers.”
Whether one finds that argument persuasive, however, is certainly up for debate.
Marko then turned his attention to Tsunoda and the “know-it-alls” who might question why he was not promoted to Red Bull when the team parted with Sergio Pérez. From Marko’s perspective, the veteran driver has taken a big step forward this season with his consistency, development, and “physical preparation.”
“Of course, there are many know-it-alls who will now object: Why wasn’t Tsunoda given preference from the start? That’s because Yuki’s career often had ups and downs; he didn’t exactly have an image of reliability and consistency. But now he’s made a leap forward in his development, including in terms of physical preparation; Tsunoda is now a real muscleman,” began Marko.
“Yuki delivered impressive performances over the first two race weekends. So, what distinguished Lawson in the second half of the 2024 season, we’re now seeing in Yuki.”
Regarding the RB21, the team’s car for 2025, Marko conceded that their challenger has a narrow operating window, a trait that dates back to its predecessor.
“Another problem, and one that Sergio Pérez, with all his experience, had to deal with in 2024, was that the Red Bull Racing car, with its narrow optimal operating range, is difficult to drive,” started Marko.
“After two race weekends, we can say about the characteristics and competitiveness of the RB21: We’re behind McLaren; the car is difficult to drive, and the setup isn’t exactly straightforward.
“But we saw in the second half of the race in China: If things go well, like Verstappen did at the end of the race, now on hard tires, he can drive as fast as or even faster than the leader. In fairness, though, I have to add that leader [Oscar] Piastri certainly wasn’t pushing the pace,” continued the Red Bull advisor.
“Our mistake was with the medium-hard tires in the first part of the race in China. Max was too cautious, based on his experience from the only free practice session and also from the sprint, when the front tires degraded very early. Verstappen still had that in mind. In retrospect, he could have pushed harder.”
Marko then turned to the much-discussed meeting this week, which involved Verstappen himself. According to the Red Bull senior figure the four-time champion was shown the development plan for the RB21, as well as the “concrete” improvements the team is making on the car.
“After returning from China, a meeting was held in Milton Keynes where we explored how and when RBR would have a winning car again. It was a good conversation between Max and the engineers. We were able to show Verstappen the general development direction of the race car and what concrete improvements are being made to the car,” wrote Marko.
Interestingly enough, Marko saved his biggest praise for VCARB rookie Isack Hadjar. Hadjar’s formation lap spin ahead of the Australian Grand Prix knocked him out of his F1 debut before it began, much to the chagrin of the Red Bull senior advisor. But Marko noted that Hadjar is “one of the surprises” of the 2025 F1 season in his Speedweek column.
“Hadjar handled his slip-up on the slippery white line in Melbourne well. But he was surprisingly strong in qualifying there,” wrote Marko. “He would certainly have scored his first points in China, but for the botched strategy. For me, Isack is one of the surprises of this first part of the season. He wasn’t familiar with China either, but he drove at Yuki’s level – very impressive, I think.”
Red Bull will look to get back to form at the Japanese Grand Prix, with their new driver lineup, next weekend.
